California Firefighters Battle Heat, Try to Contain Wildfires

MORGAN HILL, Calif. – Firefighters worked to contain a smattering of brush fires burning throughout the state amid hopes that cooler temperatures expected in the coming days will help them get a handle on the blazes.

The fires flared up over the weekend, when temperatures surged past 110 degrees in some areas, creating tinder dry brush.

The so-called "Lick Fire" consumed about a 10,000-acre wildfire as it burned through Henry Coe State Park forcing rangers to evacuate hikers and campers.

The blaze, which began Monday in the area about 20 miles southeast of San Jose, was fanned by hot, dry winds that pushed the flames through rugged, steep terrain, officials said. It was 20 percent contained by nightfall Tuesday.

Some private cabins in the park were threatened, but an outbuilding was the only structure destroyed so far, officials said. Homes outside the park were not immediately threatened.

The 1,200 firefighters battling the fire in the rugged and remote area dealt with temperatures in the low to mid 90s.

To the south, in the Angeles National Forest, a four-day-old fire about 10 miles east of Santa Clarita grew to 2,100 acres, but Forest Service spokeswoman Stanton Florea said hundreds of firefighters made progress in their efforts to cut a line around the blaze, which was 32 percent contained.

"It was cooler weather across the board," Florea said. "We definitely made good progress."

Firefighters ordered the voluntary evacuation of 25 rural homes south of Acton on Monday, but no new evacuations were ordered Tuesday. No injuries were reported, and no structures had burned.

Milder weather also helped firefighters quell a 300-acre blaze that erupted near Elizabeth Lake in the Lancaster area, Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Jason Hurd said.

"It's pretty much a done deal, we're basically in the mop-up stages," Hurd said. "The weather was pretty decent today."

Meanwhile, firefighters tackling an 85-acre wildfire in the San Bernardino National Forest at the east end of Big Bear Lake declared the blaze 100 percent contained Tuesday.

Firefighters also announced the containment Tuesday of a 170-acre blaze that temporarily closed a nearly 20-mile stretch of Highway 101 along Santa Barbara County's Gaviota coast.

Fire officials are still trying to determine what sparked the blazes.